The present application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 371 of International Application PCT/EP99/02239 filed Apr. 1, 1999, which claims priority from German Patent Application 19814672.8, filed Apr. 1, 1998.
The present invention relates to a device FOR securing ribbons or laces, especially for securing end portions of at least one shoe lace.
Proposals for such devices are described in EP 0314628 A2, EP 0693260 A2, FR 1518038, DE 4209425 C1, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,508, U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,707, U.S. Pat. No. 948,071. The devices described in the aforementioned documents are especially designed for children of kindergarten age who have not yet learned to tie a shoe laces themselves and are designed to facilitate or eliminate the tying of the shoes.
For example, in DE4209425 C1 a press button for securing the shoe laces is described wherein a circular movement of an inwardly positioned ring effects that the shoe laces are clamped.
In particular, in EP 0693260 A2 a device for securing end portions of shoe laces is described wherein by rotation of a cap element relative to base element and/or by rotation of the base element relative to the cap element end portions or shoe laces can be wound onto a hub.
The known devices, however, have a series of disadvantages. Often, the known devices are comprised of relatively many individual parts, a fact which increases the production cost and may result in early wear of the devices. In particular, some of the known devices have spring means for securing the shoe laces so that upon weakening of the spring properties of the spring means the devices become inoperable. Furthermore, the known devices secure the shoe laces only in a relatively small area of the shoe laces with result that the fixation of the shoe laces is relatively weak and moreover, a large part of the shoe laces is accessible in an unprotected way. This causes problems, in particular, for high top shoes with correspondingly long shoe laces.
The device described in EP 0693260 A2 has the disadvantage that the shoe laces due to the continuous circumference of the hub cannot be precisely received and guided into the circumferential groove. A further disadvantage of the described device is the configuration of the hub which secured the shoe laces only unsatisfactorily, so that loosening of the shoe laces is possible. Due to the axial-symmetrical shape and the continuous circumferences of the hub and the circumferential groove, as unsatisfactory clamping at the shoe laces results because only a radially acting tension force but not a tangentially acting tension force, resulting mainly from the turning action, clamps the shoe laces in the groove.
Further disadvantages of the prior art relates to unsatisfactory storage capacities of the known devices for the end portions of the ribbons and laces to be secured. It is a disadvantage in this context that longer portions of, for example, shoe laces on high top shoes as well as clothing ribbons of jackets as well as their end portions, such as, for example, shoe lace tips, cannot be safely protected and stored in order to prevent soiling, wear, or the potential for an accident by getting caught or by tripping
Further disadvantages of the prior art are the unsatisfactory protection of the device with regard to functional disturbances by soiling, for example, in the xe2x80x9coutdoorxe2x80x9d field, and, furthermore, are to be seen in that a slipping of the devices relative to the shoe or the piece of clothing cannot be prevented so that in most cases both hands are required for operating the devices.
The present invention has the object to provide an improved device for securing the shoe laces which avoids the disadvantages of the known devices.
The object of the invention is solved according to the invention by a device for securing ribbons, wherein a base element, comprising at least two openings spaced from its rotational axis in a first flat structure, as well as a cap element, comprising at least two openings in a second flat structure, which is provided at a spacing opposite the first flat structure, wherein the cap element said the base element are connected to one another such that the cap element is rotatable relative to the base element and in that, in at least one position of the cap element relative to the base element, two openings of the base element cooperate with two further openings of the cap element such that an end portion of a ribbon can be guided through a pair of cooperating openings and another said portion of the same ribbon or of another ribbon can be guided through another pair of cooperating openings, and the end portions can be wound up upon rotation of the cap element relative to the base element and/or by rotation of the base element relative to the cap element. The device for securing ribbons, especially shoe laces, is characterized according to the invention by the following features:
in the spacing between first and second flat structures, a hub element is arranged which is axial-symmetrical and non-rotatable and comprises teeth which are arranged staggered to be positioned in gaps which have a V-shaped groove interrupted alternatingly and staggered and tapers toward the interior of the hub element for receiving windings;
the first flat structure comprises at least two openings spaced from the hub element;
the end portions can be wound onto the hub element by rotation of the cap element relative to the base element and the hub element and/or by a rotation of the base element of the hub element relative to the cap element.
The winding of the end potions of the ribbon makes it possible to provide a safe and uncomplicated securing of the end portions of the ribbons which are thus protected substantially against wear by bending, shearing, or tearing. The device according to the invention makes it possible to wind the end portions of the ribbon onto the hub element, for example, by a simple rotation of the cap element relative to the base element, so that further individual parts, especially spring means, can be dispensed with. This makes it possible to provide a simple and wear-protected manipulation at the device according to the invention.
An especially safe and fast receiving and securing of the ribbons is provided by the hub element according to the invention. The hub element is embodied separately as an individual parts and can thus be produced especially simply. This hub element, by means of the teeth staggered to be positioned in gaps, has a non-continues edge which, upon rotation of be cap element relative to the base element, performs a resulting wave movement which guides the ribbon into the groove which tapers toward the interior of the hub element for receiving the ribbon windings. The novel securing action of the ribbons is realized by the hub element according to the invention comprising staggered teeth which guide the ribbon during the first rotations of the cap element relative to the base element into V-shaped, alternatingly interrupted groove, which is formed by the teeth, staggered to be positioned in gaps, and tapers in the direction toward the interior of the hub element, for receiving ribbon windings wherein the ribbon is clamped especially tightly and safely in the groove because of the staggered arrangement of the teeth. The ribbon secures itself according to the invention not only during the first half rotation by clamping in the innermost area of the tapering groove but also during the further rotations the ribbon is clamped effectively between the teeth which, according to the invention, are staggered and arranged perpendicularly to the acting tension force. A sufficient securing of the ribbon or the ribbons is thus achieved already upon the first rotations of the cap element relative to the base element, without the ribbons arrested such having to be secured by a further winding up or winding about by means of further ribbon windings. Thus, an especially cafe securing action results especially also for very short ribbons.
It is advantageous that in the interior of the device between the cap element and the base element and about the hub element an annular hollow space is formed in which the end portions of one or more ribbons can be wound in a crossed fashion by rotation of the cap element relative to the base element and/or by rotation of the base element relative to the cap element.
It is preferred when two openings are provided in the first flat structure of the base element and in the second flat structure of the cap element, respectively, wherein two openings in the first flat structure of the base element and in the cap element are diametrically oppositely arranged relative to the element.
It is especially preferred when the openings have a spacing as large as possible from the peg and are thus arranged preferably at the outer of end of the first and second flat structure.
In a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the base element has an rim portion and/or the cap element has an rim portion such that the base element and the cap element contact one another and form a closed unit of cap element and base element. Accordingly, the end portions of the ribbons are protected against soiling and the effects of the surroundings so that a greater safety during use (for example, running through bushes or underbrush) of the device according to the invention will result.
It as furthermore preferred when the cap element is detachably connected to the base element. In an especially preferred further embodiment of the device according to the invention, the base element has a peg, projecting axial-symmetrically from the first flat structure and comprising a bore, and the cap element has a pin wherein the pin can be inserted into the bore of the peg and the cap element is connected by means of a securing ring with the base element its a rotatable fashion.
It is preferred when the peg has a polygonal cross-section and the hub element has a precisely fitting bore which makes it possible to place the hub element axial-symmetrically and non-rotatably onto the peg.
Especially preferred is when the peg has a square cross-section and the hub element has a precisely fitting matching square bore which makes it possible to place the hub element axial-symmetrically and non-rotatable onto the pin wherein the square cross-section prevents a rotation of the hub element relative to the base element even at high torque as results upon forceful and sudden rotation.
It is finally advantageous when the staggered teeth form two tooth rings which are staggered so as to be positioned in gaps relative to one another, in order to provide an equally suitable receiving and securing action of the ribbons independent of the position of the hub element.
It is especially expedient when the teeth have an average slant angle of greater than 35xc2x0 because, in this way, an especially good guiding action of the ribbons in the tapering groove and an especially secure clamping of the ribbons between the staggered teeth can be achieved. Moreover, it is advantageous when the outwardly oriented tooth flanks have a slant angle of 90xc2x0 because, in this way, the hub element is planar at its underside and overall very flat, and this results in an especially compact configuration of the entire device.
It is especially advantageous when the tooth rings rotated to be staggered relative to the gaps each have 4 teeth so that, on the one hand, there are so many teeth that, independent of the position of the hub element, a receiving and securing action of the ribbons directly during the initial rotation of the cap element relative to the base element can take place, and, on the other hand, with only 4 teeth each, the individual teeth can be designed such that an especially advantageous depth and especially wave-shaped group for receiving of especially long areas of ribbons, especially of shoe laces in the case of shoes with many eyelets, and for a particularly fixed securing action of ribbons.
Finally, it is advantageous when two teeth each of the tooth rings are positioned perpendicularly to one another and one tooth of a tooth ring extends parallel to a tooth of the other tooth ring, respectively, and is displaced parallel to it by a width of a gap because by means of the parallel arrangement of two teeth, respectively, an especially wave-shaped and acute angle-shaped groove results which makes possible an especially fixed securing of the ribbons not only in the interior of the groove and, by means of the gap width between the parallel arranged teeth, the ribbons are simultaneously protected significantly against wear by extreme bending or shearing.
It is especially expedient that the underside of the hub element when it is placed onto the peg, is completely contacted with the first flat structure because, in this way, the ribbon cannot accidentally enter between the first flat structure and the hub element.
It is especially advantageous that the hub element has a height so that it projects past the rim portion of the base element and into the axial-symmetrical annular depression in the second flat structure because, in this way, the ribbon cannot enter accidentally between the second flat structure and the hub element without the hub element contacting the second flat structure over a large surface area and, in this way, an undesirable friction between the hub element and the second flat structure upon rotation of the cap element relative the base element is not possible.
The cap element comprises on its rim portion preferably a profile in order to facilitate rotation of the cap element.
For a simpler manipulation of the device according to the invention and for an especially advantageous facilitating of the rotation of the cap element an outer profiled grip-enhancing and ergonomically shaped ring element is placed so as to be non-rotatable on the rim portion of the cap element.
It is expedient when the cap element and the base element have markings for facilitating the guiding through of the end portion of at least one ribbon or shoe lace through the pairs of cooperating openings of the base element of the cap element.
It is moreover advantageous when the rim portion of the base element on its outer side has a sealing ring wherein the sealing ring is in contact with the rim portion of the cap element. This provides a sealed unit of cap element and base element so that the penetration of dirt or dust into the device and especially between gliding surfaces is prevented and a functional blockage is prevented.
It is especially advantageous in this context when the sealing ring is arranged in a circumferential groove at the outer side of the rim portion of the base element in order to prevent slipping of the sealing ring.
Advantageous materials for the sealing ring are, for example, rubber, foamed rubber-like plastic or felt.
A preferred device according to the invention has knobs at the outer side of the first flat structure of the base element which prevent slipping of the base element relative to a shoe or piece of clothing. Especially preferred in this connection is a device which at the outer side of the first flat structure of the base element has a bead-shaped, outwardly overlapping ring element wherein the ring element has a recess is the area of the openings. Especially preferred is a device wherein the ring element is comprised of soft material which cannot slip on textile materials. Such a ring element improves adhesion and adaptation of the device especially on textiles pieces of clothing and makes a single-handed operation of the devise easier.
A further improvement of the device invention resides in that the hub element at the underside has pin-shaped projections and that the first flat structure of the base element has corresponding recesses matching the pin-shaped projections. The pin-shape projections engage the recesses and connect the hub element in an immobile manner on the base element. When the hub element additionally has a bore of radial symmetry and is arranged in a precisely fitting way on a peg of radial symmetry projecting from the first flat structure for a securing action, one peg-shaped recess and one corresponding recess are sufficient.
The size reduction of the hub element and especially excellent clamping properties are provided by a hub element in which the flanks of the tooth forming the tapering groove are circular-arc shaped and the circular arc radius increases continuously toward the interior of the groove. This results in a greater hollow space in the interior of the devise and makes it possible, for the same outer dimensions of the device, to receive more ribbon volume in the device, which, for example can be used advantageously when applied in connection with children""s shoes in order to provide a correspondingly smaller device with the same shoe lace capacity.
A further improvement of the device resides in that the devise has a lid element with channels for receiving ends or tips of ribbons, wherein the lid element with the penetrating channels receives the ribbon portions projecting from the openings. This is especially advantageous because the and portions or tips of the ribbon projected unprotectedly from the openings of the device and are thus exposed to dirt, wetness, and wear and presented an injury risk by tripping of getting caught. The ends or the tips of the ribbons in the lid element are protected from external influences and are safely packaged and stored.
In this connection it is advantageous when the underside of the lid element is in areal contact with the outer side of the second flat structure and does not cover the openings in this arrangement. This makes possible an especially compact construction of the device.
In a preferred device, the lid element has, additionally pins which engage corresponding recesses in the outer side of the second flat structure and thus prevent rotation and slipping of the lid element relative to the cap element. By this, the lid element is additionally secured on the cap element.
In an especially preferred device on the outer side of the cap element a rim element is securely fastened wherein the rim element has as axial-symmetrical recess at the outer side Of the second flat structure for receiving in a precisely fitting way the lid element and a substantially continuous transition the outer surface of the rim element and the lid element results. Accordingly, the components cap element, rim element, and lid element of the device provide an optical and technical unit to the exterior. Moreover, the shoe laces in this way are especially safely packaged in the lid element and the risk of injury is substantially excluded.
It is especially preferred when the rim element is comprised of soft materials such as, for example, a soft plastic in order to achieve good gripping and handling of the device,